Process of preserving fruit.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

D. F. SHERMAN. PROCESS OF PRBSBRVING FRUIT. APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 20, mm. nmwnwnn NOV. 30. 1904.

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'NITED STATES latentea Tune 27, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE,

DANIEL F. SHERMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CALIFORNIA CONCENTRATED FRUIT COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

PROCESS OF PRESERVING FRUIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,614, dated June 27, 1905.

Application filed September 20, 1901. Renewed November 30, 1904. Serial No. 234,875.

To all whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. SHERMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Preserving Fruit, of which thef'ollowing isaspecification.

The preserving of different fruits in a manner so as to retain in the finished product the natural flavors and conditions of acidity and properties of the fruit has long been sought, but without full satisfactory results. It is well known that dried fruits have the requirement for keeping under certain conditions fora long periodof time; but as the dryingof fruits is always accompanied with the loss and change of flavor and other natural properties of the fruit the drying of fruitdoes not, therefore, meet all that is required for a choice article, as in drying the flavor and natural conditions of the fruit are lost or changed more or less and to an extent that dried fruit is not regarded in the same class as fresh fruit. It is also the custom to can fruit for preserving purposes; but in the canning and in the subsequent reduction of canned fruit for use a sacrifice of flavor results, and, furthermore, canned fruit requires time and careful attention and watch ing both in canning and in the reduction for use. The drying of fruit and the canning of fruit for preserving purposes is the general art practiced at the present day; but with either process the resultant product is not up to the full standard of fresh fruit for many uses, and such standard is what is required in order to have preserved fruit stand on an equality with fresh fruit.

The prime object of the process of the present invention is to preserve fruitunder conditions and environments by which the resultant product will have and retain therein the natural color, the taste, and the properties to a great extent of fresh fruit for fillings, sauces, jams, and for use generally-that is to'say, the product when returned to form for use will show the color of and have the taste and properties of cooked fresh fruit, thereby enabling preserved fruit to be used and have the qualities of fresh fruit and with practically the same results.

The process employs as an essential step thereof treating the fruit in a vacuum at the final stage of the production of the product, the fruit in some cases prior to the treating it eacuo having been subjected to a treatment to prevent decolorization, if so desired, the fruit either untreated or treated being first reduced to a mashed condition preferably and-containing the juice and pulp of the fruit, and this mass of juice and pulp is that portion of the fruit which is to be cooked and concentrated in cacao for retaining the natural properties of the fruit, and a further step or condition of the process after the cooking and concentrating in cacao has been com- 6 5 pleted is the subjecting of the concentrated mass to a drying either natural or by artificial means---that is to say, either in the sun or in a drying-room, evaporating-pan, or other appliance by which the treated mass or 7 paste will be dried to a condition Where it will maintain its formation without deterioration or ill effects from atmospheric conditions and which will maintain the flavor and other properties of the fruit and will not absorb atmospheric moisture to an extent suflicient to produce injurious effects thereon.

The process will be understood from the following description, which is applicable in the treatment of fruits generally.

The fruit to be treated is first to be thoroughly washed, so as to remove all foreign substances and impurities. The fruit after being washed is subjected to a crushing treatment by which the body of the fruit is re- 5 duced to a mash containing the juice and the pulp of the fruit, and the peel and core with fruits such as apples and pears, and with berries the hulls thereof. The mash from the reducing-machine is deposited in a separator, 9 preferably a sieve or screen, by means of which the juice and the pulp of the fruit are separated from the coarse fibers, the skins.

and other portions or the hulls and stems, and

it is this fine pulp, with the juicethereimthat is to be subjected to the special step or treatment of the process by which the nature of the fruit is retained in the finished product. The pulp that is forced through the separator is fine pulp, as the coarser fiber, the skin, and

other portions do not pass through the mesh of the sieve or screen, and this fine pulp is deposited from the sieve or screen into a receptacle located beneath the same in proper position for the pulp, with the juice, to descend thereinto. The pulping step or treatment of the process, if so desired, can be dispensed with and the grinding step or treatment be made sufficient to answer the purpose where it is not desired to have the different portions of the fruit separated from. the other, but to have the pulp proper and the coarser fiber and the skin all subjected to the specials step or treatment of the process.

The essential and most important step of the process is now reached. The crushed or pulped fruit, either after leaving the grinder as amash or after the pul p proper, by which is meant the solids and juices of the fruit, has been separated from the other portions, is removed from the receptacle intowhich it is deposited and transferred to a. vacuum panor kettle. The pan or kettle employed. may be of ordinary construction containing an agitat tor, by means of which the material? delivered into the pan or kettle can be thoroughly stirred. The pan or kettle is first brought to a condition of warm sufficient for the purpose of drawing thereinto the pulp, and when this stage of Macao is reached the controllingcock or valve in the pipe between the vacuumpan or kettle and the receptacle for the pulpis opened, when the pulpmaterial. will: be drawn into the pan or kettle until it reaches. the lower level of the manhole of the panor kettle. \Nhen the pan or kettle is filled to the height stated or such height as may. be deemed advisable, the shut-off cook or valve in the connecting-pipe is closed. and the steam. or heating means is applied to the pan. or kettle and the agitator is operated, andthe material in the pan or kettle is thus cooked. The temperature under which the evaporating is. done should not be allowed to reach 200 Fahrenheit; but the vacuum in the pan or kettle should be kept as high as possible allthe time.

The vacuum treatment iscarriedout as follows: The vacuum-pump is first started and when the gage registers fifteen. points, ap: proximately, the pulp is. drawn into the vacuum pan or kettleby suction, care being taken not to allow the vacuum to fall below ten points, and if. a lower point than tenv is. registered the pulp is tobe drawn or sucked in less rapidly. The agitator of the vacuum. panor kettle is tobe started when the vacuum-gage registers eighteen points, and when this stage is reached the steam should be turned on or admitted to the vacuum-pan. The vacuumgage during the operation of agitating the material under the heat of the steam should not be allowed to fall below eighteen points and should be maintained approximately at twenty points until the mashed pulp and juice in the pan or kettle begins to thicken, and when. the required thickening or reduction to a plastic nature for the material is reached the action of the steam need not proceed any longer, as the resultant is then ready to be drawn off from the vacuum pan or kettle. During this treatment of the mashed material within the vacuum pan or kettle the thermometer will: gradually rise from a temperature of 140 to 180 and preferably the temperature during the treatment within the vacuum pan or kettle should be a medium one 0t approximately 1.60 at which point orbetween the temperatures of 14:0 to. L Fahrenheit the mass. begins to. thicken, and with the further proceeding of cooking and concentrating the vacuum gradually rises to twenty-six and one-fourth and the thermometer falls to about 135. Fahrenheit, and when these twdconditions of vacuum and temperatu re are reached the product is brought to. a condition for, removal from the pan. and is sufficiently solidified, coherent, and compact to enable ittobe-readzily-handledand transferred on trays or-otherwiseto the drier, where the further removals of the moisture is continued until the finished product is. in a conditionv so as to be prooii againstboth organized or yeast ferments and? unorganized or chemical terments, being, in effect, fermentation proof, so that the unorganized or chemical ferments will not act and: oxidizethe product, as is the case with. these ferments withfresh fruit in the event of injury of the cells ofor the exposure of. fresh fruit to the air. This treatment of the pulp preferably is proceeded with under natural conditions. The paste of concentrated pulp cooked. to the thickened condition. may be discharged into a receivingtank for further-manipulation, a-ndfrom this tank the paste of reduced: and concentrated pulp is runonto traysorinto moldsor otherwise deposited, after which. in. whatever-form the paste mass. is finally leftit isto. be moisture-dried, preferably in a drying-room; but an evaporator or other drying means may be used, or the product may be dried naturally inv the sun. Y

The sametreatment is followed; with fruit containing pits. The fxT-lli-l) to. be pitted is thoroughly Washed to. remove allforeign sub: stances, after which; the pits can, be removed by hand? or otherwise and. the pulp. portions of the fruit, skinsand all, be thrown into suitable boxes, which, if the fruit is. to be first treatedto prevent decolorization, may be lug- ITO small rods of iron or Wood.

can be deposited in a suitable grinder by which the fruit will be reduced to a pulp with the juice therein, and the further treatment thereof is as hereinbefore described for treating fruit generally.

Where it is desirable to treat only the pulp proper, the separating sieves or screens for the pulp should be arranged in series, one capable of retaining the pits, cores, stems, or hulls and passing the skins and pulp, the next capable of separating the skin and coarser fibers from the finer pulp, and the next for operating on the finer pulp. It is to be understood that the skins and coarser fibrous portions of the fruit can be treated the same as the finer pulp by discharging the separated skins and coarser fiber into a receptacle and drawing the same therefrom into a vacuum pan or kettle to be cooked and concentrated therein under the same conditions as in the treatment of fine pulp. The treatment must be m memo and under the same conditlons as to heat and vacuum as required .in the treatment of the fine pulp hereinbefore described.

The product delivered from the vacuum pan or kettle may be dried in a closed room heatis taken in order to prevent the fruit product from sticking to the bottom of the trays, and with cotton cloth the trays or molds can be made with an iron or wood frame and bottom of wire-screening, supported on stiff wires or The ends of the trays may be somewhat higher than the sides, and the trays are placed one over another on a truck, which can be run into the dryingroom, and the ends of the trays being the highest an opening is left between the trays on the sides for circulation of the drying medium. It is to be understood, however, that while the drying of the material from the pan or kettle is preferably done in a drying-room it can be dried in any suitable manner so as to form a solidified and coherent body, with the moisture eliminated, so as to be proof against theaction of both organized and unorganized ferments in keeping and of sufiicient tenacity to support itself to be handled without being easily broken in pieces.

The fruit product after the drying treatment is to be taken from the drying-place and packed in boxes, preferably having an inside slightly larger than the slabs, and in packing the first layer has placed thereover a piece of very thin cloth which will just cover the layer, and the succeeding layers, placed one on another, have over each a piece of thin cloth, so that when packed each layer has cloth above and below it, which will prevent the layers from sticking together and also keep the fruit product clean. This interposed cloth, however, is not necessary with all kinds of fruit, and paper may be used in place of cloth, though cloth is preferred, as cloth is readily removed by pouring hot water thereover when the fruit product is de sired to be used. This method of packing with cotton cloth or paper between the layers in a box ready for shipment protects the prodnot from insects and is a safeguard against the product becoming wormy or otherwise spoiled.

The product is self-preserving, so far as regards its keeping qualities, by reason of its production in a state of cacao during the cooking and concentrating process and its being moisture-dried against the action of ferments after leaving the vacuum treatment.

The treatment of fruit under the steps of the process of this invention serves to retain in the finished product the flavors and qualities of fruit in its original state. I The product thus produced is adapted for manufacturing purposes generally, and for the use of preservers, confectioners, bakers, and other manufacturers and housekeepers and can be used as a filling for pastry and for any purpose for which cooked fresh fruit in its natural state is used and take the place of fresh fruit. For use as a filling for pastries all that is necessary is to dissolve a sufficient amount of the product for the quantity of filling desired in hot water to the consistency required, and with the fruit treated in its natural state and without sugar or other sweetening the proper amount of sweetening should be added for the filling, and the result will be the same as if cooked fresh fruit had been used, requiring, however, less labor and less cost than the average labor and cost for fresh fruit.

Among some of the advantages which may be mentioned for the process of this invention applied to the preserving of fruits are the following: The fruit is kept from oxidation. It is maintained throughout the process in a healthy natural condition. The cooking and by which but little, and in reality practically none, of the flavor of the fruit is lost, and if treated to an agent to prevent decolorization the color of the fruit will be retained. The result of cooking and concentrating in vacuo of the natural fruit-pulp is one by which this pulp can be made thick or thin at the will of the preserver by simply grading the length of time for the treatment in mono, and the process can also be employed with the addition of sugar, glucose, syrup, or other sweetening agent without materially atiectingthe condition of the product as regards flavor and the natural properties of the fruit.

An apparatus suitable for the purpose of carrying out the steps of the process is illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation showing an arrangement of grinder, separator, and vacuum pan or kettle for cooperation one with the other; Fig. 2, an elevation in outline of a drying-room, and Fig. 3 an elevation in outline of a sulfurizing or decolorization room.

The grinder can be of any suitable construction, having a body or frameA and a hopper A and containing Within the body below the mouth of the hopper a cutting-cylinder a, with suitable knives and cooperating cuttingfingers a and pressure-controlling springs a for the fingers. The ground or mashed fruit descends through a spout B connected with the grinder, into aseparator orpulper B, having the upper portion of its'shell or body solid and the lower portion of its shell or body formed of wire-netting or perforated sheet metal 6 and constituting a sieve or sitter, to cooperate with which are brushes 5 on a revoluble shaft B, suitably driven. The separated fine pulp passes through the sieve or sifter into a receiving trough or tank C, leading from which is a pipe 0, having a controlling cock or valve 0 terminating within trolled pipe (Z, and an exhaust-pump d is' provided't'or withdrawing the condensation. The material is educted from the pan or kettle through a discharge spout or nozzle into trays E, the sides of which are lower than the ends e, so as to leave an air-space, and when filled the trays are placed in a suitable place for drying. The trays in the arrangement of apparatus illustrated are placed in a drying- I room F, having therein steam-coils f for raising and maintaining the temperature 01 the room at the proper degree of heat for drying The' the contents of the trays to the requisite amount. The drying-room is shown in Fig. 2 and is to be located so as to be readily accessible from the pan' or kettle for the reception of the filled trays.

The fruit to be treated against decolorization prior to being processed is placed in lugboxes g, and the boxes are placed in a suitable receptacle or room Gr, where the fruit in the boxes can be treated to the action of chemicals in solution or to the fumes of chemicals of such nature as will have a harmless effect on the fruit and will not affect the health of the consumer and which will furnish a perfeet safeguard against decolorization. This can be done either after the fruit is washed and pitted or cored and before entering the grinder, or the treatment against decolorization could be in the process of mashing or after the material leaves the grinder, or it could be in the separator or after it leaves the separator, or in the vacuum pan or kettle, or after the solidified and coherent product leaves the pan or kettle, either as it dcs'cends into the receiving-tray or after being deposited in the tray, it being immaterial where the treatment to prevent decolorization is had so long as such treatment is had at a time and place which will retain the natural color of the fruit and prevent oxidation of the fruit or the product, and this treatment to prevent decolorization is especially beneficial with fruits where oxidation changes the color of the fruit, and it is desirable, though not a necessity, in treating any fruit under the process of the invention that at some stage or step in the process as a whole the fruit should be given a treatment to prevent decolorization and oxidation, and thereby retain the color of the fruit and adding to the value of the product in this respect.

It is to be understood that the masher, the separator, the receiving-tank for the pulp to be treated, and the vacuum pan or kettle are to have such relation one to the other that the progress of the fruit from the point of its admission into the grinder or crusher to the point of admission into the pan or kettle and the eduction therefrom in properly-treated condition may be a continuous uninterrupted progress,- and, if desired, the grinder can have a close relation to the decolorizationroom, and the drying-room can have a close relation to the vacuum pan or kettle, with the end in view of having the entire treatment of the fruit a practically continuous one.

The treatment of berries under the process of this invention does not necessarily require the mashing of the berries in a separate machine, though such practice may be had; but ordinarily the berries can be operated upon in the separator without a preliminary grinding. The berries are reduced to a pulpy condition, the same as described for fruit generally, and the pulp of the berries, with thejuice therein, is drawn into the vacuum pan or kettle and there subjected to treatment under a temperature andyacuum conditions to concentrate the material and produce a thick paste, as already described for fruit in general, it being preferred not to use in the pan or kettle sugar, syrup, or other sweetening ingredient. The drying treatment completes the process and produces a resultant berryfruit product of a nature containing therein the taste, color, and essential properties of the berries from which the product was produced. der the process of the invention can be carried on similar to the treatment of berries, and in the treatment of both the ripe fruit and berries without a preliminary treatment to bring the fruit into a mash ripe fruit, like berries, can be first operated upon in the separator or pulper after being washed, if so desired, and there pulped and the pulp and juice subjected to a treatment in cacao in the pan or kettle. While it is preferred to mash fruit and berries and separate the pulp and juice from the skin and coarser fibers before treatment in mcuo, it is evident that ripe fruit and berries can be deposited in the vacuum pan or kettle and the reduction of the mass to apulp condition and its subsequent concentration into a plastic state can all be done in the pan or kettle. It is preferred to discharge the treated product from the pan or kettle into pans or trays and have the product in the shape of cakes, slabs, or sheets; but instead of this form for the product it could be made into granules, powder, shavings, or shreds by the employment of proper machinery and still retain therein the flavor and other properties of the fruit, and when granulated, powdered, shaved, or shredded the product can be wrapped, if so desired, in cloth, paper, or

other protecting material against vermin and atmospheric influences.

The product is solidified and strongly coherent. It is very compact and thoroughly sterilized. It is proof against the action from within of organized and unorganized ferments. It is not sensitive to atmospheric influences, and it will retain its flavor and natural properties for a long period of time and in different climates.

It will be understood that in carrying out the process of my invention the essential and necessary step is the cooking and concentrating or treating the fruit under a vacuum or in occur) at a temperature and under a vacuum, as stated hereinbefore, by which the flavors and the other essential properties of the fruit will be retained in the product. This step has combined therewith preliminary stepssuch as washing, treating to prevent decolorization, crushing the fruit, and separating The treatment of very ripe fruit unthe pulp with the juice therein. The cacao step of the process is followed by drying the resultant of the Macao treatment to render it proof against the action of ferments. It is to be understood that the treatment to prevent decolorization should be used where it is desired to retain the color of the fruit, but can be dispensed with where the retention of the color is not wanted; but the pulping of the fruit and the treatment in cacao of the fruit and the subsequent drying of the resultant from the mono treatment are necessary and essential in carrying out the process in the making of afruit product with the flavors and other properties retained therein and which is fermentation-proof and self-protected against moisture and climatic changes.

While it is preferred to carry out the process and treat the fruit without the use of a sweetening, it is to be understood that a sweetening may be added to the fruit either before or during the treatment in the vacuum pan or kettle.

What I- regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of preserving fruit, which consists in reducing the fruit to a pulp leaving therein the solids of the juice, and then subjecting the pulp and the solids of the juice to a concentrating cooking treatment in cacao, substantially as described.

2. The process of preserving fruit, which consists in reducing the fruit to a pulped condition with the juice retained therein and then subjecting the pulp and the solids of the juice to a concentrating cooking treatment in cacao, and finally drying the product, substantially as described.

3. The process of preserving fruit which consists in reducing the fruit to a pulped condition with the juice retained therein, then subjecting the pulp and the solids of the uice and an added binder to a concentrating cooking treatment inoacuo, and finallydrying the product, substantially as described.

4. The process of preserving fruit which consists in first mashing the fruit and reducing the same to a pulped condition with the juice retained therein, separating the finer pulp with the solids of the juice from the coarser material, and then subjecting the separated pulp with the solids of the juice to a concentrating cooking treatment in vac a0, substantially as described.

5. The process of preserving fruit which consists in first mashing the fruit and reducing the same to a pulped condition with the juice retained therein, separating the finer pulp with the solids of the juice from the coarser material, then subjecting the separated pulp with the solids of the juice to a concentrating cooking treatment in cacao, and finally drying the product, substantially as described.

6. The process of preserving fruit, which ing the product into homogeneous blocks; and finally drying the blocks, substantially as described.

DANIEL F. SHERMAN. Witnesses:

OSCAR W. BoND, THOMAS B. MoGREeoR. 

